Often when we hear the word “piety”, our minds are led towards observing religious rituals and obligations and avoiding unlawful acts. We are led to think of praying, fasting and honesty. Of course these are all important, but piety has other aspects as well, which are often ignored. In the holy dua of Makarim al-Akhlaq, there is an explanation about these other aspects of piety. “O God, bestow Your greetings on Muhammad and his companions, and adorn me with what You adorn Your righteous servants, and let me wear the clothes that Your pious servants wear.” What clothes do pious servants of God wear? Then there is this interesting explanation: “In promoting justice, suppressing anger and extinguishing fires [that is, conflicts that occur among people in society].” These are aspects of piety. “And unite people who have been divided.” These are all aspects of piety which have been mentioned in the holy dua of Makarim al-Akhlaq – the 20th dua of the holy Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya. This dua is a very important dua. I believe that everybody, especially government officials, should recite this dua and pay careful attention to the meaning. It is a very instructional dua. Instead of fomenting discord, rumor-mongering and turning people against each other, one should try to create unity among one’s faithful brothers. These are aspects of piety.

These are all issues that we need to deal with today. Judiciary justice, economic justice, justice in the process of recruitment, justice in distributing the available resources among different groups in the country, geographical justice – these are all very important issues. These are all among our needs. Promoting justice is among the most important aspects of piety. Promoting justice is more important than saying a daily prayer or fasting on a hot summer day. According to a tradition, “For an emir, ruling fairly for a single day is like spending 70 years in worship.” All of you are an emir – an emir is somebody who is in charge of an organization and his or her orders play a significant role in that organization. These are very important issues. This tradition shows the importance of justice and fair behavior.

It is also important to suppress your anger when you are angry with your friends. Of course it is also necessary to suppress one’s anger at one’s enemies. “And remove the rage of their hearts.” [The Holy Quran, 9: 15] But when you are faced with an enemy who is opposed to your identity and existence, then your anger is sacred and there is nothing with showing this kind of anger. But when you are among faithful people – among people whom you should treat like Muslims – you should not show your anger. Anger harms people. It is harmful to make decisions when you are angry. It is harmful to speak when you are angry. It is harmful to work when you are angry, and often flaws and mistakes slip into your work. Unfortunately this is something that affects us frequently. Suppressing this anger – the kind of anger that causes diversion and intellectual and practical mistakes – is one aspect of piety.

Another aspect is to “extinguish fires”. Some people fan the flames of political and partisan conflicts. Some people appear to have a mission to provoke conflicts. Inside our own country I see some people who want to pitch different elements, parties and their members against one another. They are determined to foment discord. They appear to be fond of fomenting discord. This goes against piety. Piety requires that we “extinguish fires” and settle conflicts. You should control and extinguish human, spiritual and moral fires [conflicts] the way you extinguish a fire in the material world. Similarly, you should “unite people who have been divided”.

I once said that there should be maximum inclusion and minimum purging. Of course the criterion is our principles and values. People are not all at the same level in terms of their faith. There are some people among us whose faith is weak, and some other people whose faith is stronger. We need to make a compromise. It is not possible to reject everybody whose faith is weak. It is not possible to pin our hopes only on the people whose faith is strong. No, it is necessary to give a role to those who are not very faithful. Those who consider themselves as strong should not reject the people who they consider to be weak. They should be considerate towards those who are less faithful. Faithful people should try to guide and present reasons and advice for those who are strong in terms of their religious faith, but who have parted company with the rest because of a mistake or lack of vigilance. Other faithful people should help them change their mind. These are primary issues.

So these are the elements of piety and the ways to repent – “the month of penitence”. However, what is interesting is that fasting in the month of Ramadan is a communal ritual. That is to say, fasting is not an individual obligation. We all enter this month and fast together – all members of the Islamic community and the Islamic Ummah. Just imagine what will happen if we all practice the important recommendations mentioned in the Holy Quran and all the principles of the Holy Prophet’s (s.w.a.) lifestyle. Just imagine what will happen in the world of Islam if every one of us believes that the recommendations are being addressed to us. On a smaller scale, just imagine what will happen in our country. We should appreciate this month, and we should do so by engaging in genuine penitence and spiritual purification in the month of Ramadan. Purification and penitence are the things that we should move towards in the month of Ramadan.

The Sayyid is a network of interested people in
Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei’s personality and
thoughts.
The Sayyid network works as a source for people
generated materials regarding ideas and personality
of Ayatollah Khamenei.
The Sayyid network provides general understanding
of Ayatollah Khamenei’s intellectual contributions on
the socio-political, religious, economical, and cultural
issues.